A number of hospital emergency departments are failing to meet the requirements of the national standards for safer better care, an Oireachtas committee has heard.
HIQA Chief Executive Angela Fitzgerald told the Oireachtas Committee on Health that four key areas have been identified for dealing with overcrowding in the immediate and long term.
She said these include the need to urgently build extra capacity, a more effective approach to workforce planning, more responsive leadership and better monitoring and management of patient safety risks.
Ms Fitzgerald told the committee that the Health Information and Quality Authority remit is expanding rapidly into new sectors and service areas.
She said HIQA is preparing for the commencement of the Patient Safety (Notifiable Incidents and Open Disclosure) Act 2023, which has been signed into law.
She added that this will bring new responsibilities for HIQA in relation to the private hospital sector and in terms of notifiable incidents for all hospitals.
She also told the committee that HIQA is currently progressing national standards in key areas of children's health and social services and in relation to home support.
The committee is discussing the HIQA annual report for last year.
University Hospital Limerick 'overcrowded'
Fine Gael Senator Martin Conway told the committee that people in the midwest feel let down by HIQA in relation to overcrowding at University Hospital Limerick (UHL).
He said that over 100 patients are on trolleys in Co Limerick on a daily basis.
Ms Fitzgerald said that in its first inspection report, HIQA called out UHL for a failure to comply with national standards.
She also said that Limerick has one of the busiest emergency departments, but also has one of the smallest bed bases.
She said that the issue was not just about having beds but also how those beds are managed.
Ms Fitzgerald added that some issues are not within the gift of UHL and require wider HSE involvement.
She told the committee that the second inspection at UHL in February showed some improvement but there is more work to be done.
Sinn Féin's Spokesperson on Health David Cullinane said that what happens outside hospitals in the community can be as much a driver of long waiting times as what occurs within hospitals.
There were 532 patients waiting for admission to a bed from emergency departments this morning, according to the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation.
The hospital worst affected is UHL, with 121 patients waiting.
